Cultivating Optimism

"I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else"
Winston Churchill

Optimism and the habit of positive thinking have shown to increase healthy adaptability to life events as well as fortify the experience of life in a beneficial way. Having a positive view on life leads negative events to roll off of your back and at the same time helps you to take notice of positive life events which serve to affirm your belief that the world offers positive opportunities. Some of the benefits of maintaining a positive outlook are:

-Better emotional and physical health
-Lower stress levels
-Greater persistence in achieving goals
-Higher levels of overall accomplishment
-Better overall quality of life

Believe it or not, most stress we experience comes from our own thoughts. Though we all have certain patterns of mental processing and response, it is more than possible to train ourselves to become more optimistic. Changing our negative thought process begins as a conscious decision to exchange negative thoughts with more positive ones. Once we have made that decision, the rest is practice to create something similar to “muscle memory” in regards to thought production. Being willing to examine our specific thoughts and taking the time to examine thought patterns can change our perspective on our life and alleviate the stress caused by our own negative and essentially self-destructive thoughts. The concept of “thought replacement” is quite simple, yet the process of accomplishing it takes time and can feel almost impossible at times since negative thoughts can feel so embedded because they happen automatically. The goal is to catch negative thoughts, look at them objectively and immediately shift them into a positive affirmation instead. Acting with the support of positive thinking instead of looming negativity will lead us to much greater outcomes in all aspects of personal existence. This practice can change our view on ourself, our life and the way we see and appreciate others.

Life is a work in progress and we have more power than we sometimes lead ourselves to believe when it comes to the outcome of events in our own lives. How we interpret circumstances as well as how we interpret our part in them can drastically affect their result. If we believe in ourselves, and believe we can accomplish something, more than likely our reality will reflect that belief. If we believe we cannot, the same rule applies itself. In addition to establishing a more positive thought process, being able to recognize and capture positive events in the world around you will also help to act as affirmation that positive things can and do happen. As an exercise try the following for at least one full week:

Cultivating Optimism
-Carry a notebook and pen with you everywhere (it can be small enough to fit in your purse or your pocket)
-Actively search out positive events, displays of optimism, things or people that have added a positive element to your day and write them down in your book
-Take the opportunity each day to accomplish at least 3 positive actions on your own in your own life or the life of another and write them down in your book
-Write in your book 3 positive things about yourself that come to you each day
-Pick a different person each day (either a stranger, friend, family member or acquaintance) and write in your book 3 positive observations about them
-At the end of the week go back and look at everything positive you have captured!

If we tend to find ourselves always looking for the negative in ourselves and the people around us, this exercise may prove to be a challenge at first, but dedicating energy to it even for a week can help us re-evaluate our perception of life around us. Referring back to the book can also help us to encourage positive thinking when we are slipping back into negative patterns of thought.

In the realm of creativity these practices can help to increase our productivity and enjoyment in the process of making art as well as give us inspiration to continue when we face the inevitable road blocks of life. Negativity can act as a barrier in and of itself by leading us to create excuses that inhibit our likelihood of approaching our creative projects. By eliminating personal creative time, we then perpetuate a cycle of negativity by not focusing on the aspects of our life that bring us happiness and supply us with meaning. To understand and attempt to tackle the impact of negative thoughts by redirecting them into positive thoughts and positive action could be the primary key to our enjoyment in the experience our true potential.